ROLAND, Arkansas – BYU junior golfer Peter Kuest wrapped up play at the 23rd annual Arnold Palmer Cup with a 2-2 individual record for the United States team.
Played at the The Alotian Club, in Roland, Arkansas, the International squad earned a 33.5-26.5 victory over the American team to become the first visiting team to win on U.S. soil since 2009.
Kuest, from Fresno, California, defeated opponent Matthias Schmid (Louisville/Germany) of the International squad 1-up in his singles match on the final-day of competition. Earlier in the week, Kuest teamed with Kaitlyn Papp (University of Texas) to defeat Sofia Garcia (Texas Tech/Paraguay) and Ivan Ramirez (Texas Tech/Colombia) 3&1 in mixed four-ball.
In mixed foursome, he and partner Stephanie Lau (Northwestern) fell 4&3 to Agathe Laisne (Texas/France) and Chun An Yu (Arizona State/Taiwan) and then teamed with John Augenstein (Vanderbilt), lost 1-up to Aled Greville (Birmingham University/Wales) and Kengo Aoshima (Wake Forest/Japan) in foursome.
The United States leads the Arnold Palmer Cup all-time series 12-10-1 over the International team in the Ryder Cup format event.
Kuest's No. 1 ranking in the Arnold Palmer Cup standings made him one of just six U.S. players to automatically qualify for the team. Six other players, chosen by a committee and coaches, rounded out the team of top collegiate golfers representing the U.S.A. A similar process established the International team, which consisted of 12 international golfers, most on U.S. collegiate teams.
Named for and established in partnership with the late legend Arnold Palmer, the invitational dates back to 1997, when eight U.S. golfers squared off against a team of eight golfers from Great Britain or Ireland. The teams have expanded over the years, and 2018 marked the first year for the International team to include members from any country outside of the U.S.
Past participants on the Arnold Cup team include PGA tour stars such as Dustin Johnson, Graeme McDowell, Webb Simpson, Ben Curtis, Justin Thomas, Luke Donald and Rickie Fowler.
Two former BYU golfers, All-American Andy Miller (2000) and Pub Links Champion Clay Ogden (2006), both represented the U.S. on past Arnold Palmer Cup teams.